The present invention relates to an electromagnetic shielding sleeve used in particular in the field of aeronautics to protect bundles of electrical cables.
The present invention applies generally to protecting wires, cables or bundles of wires by electromagnetically shielding them in order to protect them from electromagnetic interference and radio-frequency interference.
This type of electromagnetic protection is routinely used in the automotive, rail cabling and aeronautical fields.
Electromagnetic interference protection standards are drawn up for each field of application and may require protection of the order of 40 to 45 dB in the automotive field or of the order of 80 to 90 dB in the aeronautical field.
Self-closing sleeves of polyester fabric coated with copper or nickel for providing electromagnetic protection are known in the automotive field, for example.
Electrical continuity is provided by an overlap on the outside face of the textile sleeve, where a folded longitudinal edge produces copper-to-copper contact.
A protective sleeve of the above kind is described in the document EP 1 175 683 in particular.
However, this kind of sleeve can offer only low protection to interference and is therefore difficult to transpose to the aeronautical field.
In the aeronautical field, maximum efficiency in terms of electromagnetic shielding is obtained by using copper wires, for example in the form of a copper braid.
In the conventional way, copper wires are overbraided around the cable to be protected, for example with a coverage rate of around 75%. The coverage rates required in the aeronautical field are frequently in excess of 90%.
A layer overbraided with textile filaments may be added to provide mechanical protection of the bundle of cables and the copper shielding.
However, the above shielding is difficult to fit to a bundle of cables.
Moreover, it is particularly difficult, or even impossible, to maintain and replace shielding and mechanical protection elements if the bundles of cables are installed and connected in their operational configuration.